Taking unplayable on a bad lie in a bunker. Did you ever , would you, why not?

Yeah I've done it before. I've played this game long enough to learn that some lies are just downright impossible, it doesn't matter if you're a pro or a hacker. I swallow my pride and take a drop with penalty still inside the bunker.

I've actually done that for similar situations outside the bunker. Some lies are really just asking for trouble - the trick is to know which these situations are.

I've never taken an unplayable lie in a bunker. The risk of dropping a shot then having to drop into a bunker potentially giving myself a buried lie and leaving it still in he bunker is just too great. I've yet to come across a lie where I don't feel I have a chance of getting out, even if I have to play sideways or backwards.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've done it before when I found myself buried under the lip of a green side bunker and there was nothing but water behind the green. Wouldn't have mattered anyway since I skulled the chip on the next shot into the drink.

Yes. Buried under a lip. With zero chance at getting through the turf on to the green hahaha


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And taking a stroke penalty


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wicked Cool Bearded Man said:

Yes. Buried under a lip. With zero chance at getting through the turf on to the green hahaha


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

That's usually when I've taken it. I've tried to knock it out of there and only driven the ball in further. The other time I have is when I was at the back of the bunker against the grass and there was no way I was going to be able to hit behind the ball. That was tricky as I had to basically go sideways to find a spot with sand that was no closer to from the hole.

I wonder how one would take an unplayable for a ball that is at the utmost far side edge (furthest from the hole) of the bunker? When there is no way to drop in the bunker without being closer to the hole. Technically I suppose we could go back and hit from last spot but of course that is not practical thing to do most the time especially in casual golf and for sake of pace so what do you do? I suppose you can try to just hit the ball down into a flatter and better lie situation or try to up it out backwards. But doing either may be just as difficult as for the same reason you wanted to take an unplayable in the first place. I suppose your just stuck trying your best to move the ball somehow and worst case scenario end up with an ESC or unfinished hole.

rollin said:

I wonder how one would take an unplayable for a ball that is at the utmost far side edge (furthest from the hole) of the bunker? When there is no way to drop in the bunker without being closer to the hole. Technically I suppose we could go back and hit from last spot but of course that is not practical thing to do most the time especially in casual golf and for sake of pace so what do you do? I suppose you can try to just hit the ball down into a flatter and better lie situation or try to up it out backwards. But doing either may be just as difficult as for the same reason you wanted to take an unplayable in the first place. I suppose your just stuck trying your best to move the ball somehow and worst case scenario end up with an ESC or unfinished hole.

Click to expand...

The option there, if you couldn't find a place that was no closer to the hole, would be to re-hit from the original spot like you said. In that case, I'd probably just try to hack it back out of the trap, or knock it off the side into a spot I could hit it and take my lumps.

And then be annoyed about it for the rest of the round

I have taken a unplayable in a bunker and have no problem doing it again.

Absolutely have and would do it again.

What about if the bunker is filled with bees? I have noticed that a lot the last two summers around this area. There is some kind of ground nesting wasp that seems to love bunkers.

This only happened to me once, and everyone in the group yelled at me to take the stroke while I hovered over the ball, wedge in hand with the death grip, teeth mashed, eyes bulging, and wham! it rolled down into the bunker...

I'll take the unplayable next time.

rollin said:

Every so often in the world of weekend warriors someone ends up perhaps heavily buried in a bunker sidewall or perhaps under a lip, or whatever terrible situation most people have liitle to no chance of ever getting out of. Unfortunately what most do pretty much every single time is think they can manage to somehow perform magic they have no business even attempting.

I do realize some people do not know taking a penalty and an unplayable is an option. That said, many people do know of it and yet instead of taking the option they still attempt the shot anyway only to (99% of the time) end up almost as bad or perhaps even worse or at very least often only a tad better but still extremely low percentage play. Then what happens from there is they attempt it again and so on and of course the whole process ends up a giant mess of a blowup hole. Been there done that myself.

But nowadays there is the rarest occasion when that bad I will take the penalty and a drop. Its simply the smarter play to help best save the score and strokes for what otherwise is a most certain disaster of a hole.

So I ask, why are we so stubborn when other options are available?
Do you, did you ever, would you take an unplayable for the rare worst bunker scenarios?

Click to expand...

I would only drop if there was truly no way to play the ball from the lie - I've played out backwards or sideways before when I had no other option, but I've never had to declare the ball unplayable. If there's any way I can get out of the bunker with my shot, then I'll almost always be better off than the half plugged lie I'd have from dropping the ball in sand.

pjleduc said:

What about if the bunker is filled with bees? I have noticed that a lot the last two summers around this area. There is some kind of ground nesting wasp that seems to love bunkers.

Click to expand...

I played a round a Greystone this summer where every bunker was swarmed with yellowjackets. My partner and I agreed to give a free drop outside of any swarming bunker.... official rules be damned, I'm not getting stung nor taking strokes because the the bunkers aren't properly maintained....

Funny you bring this up. Last weekend I hit my approach into a greenside bunker and it plugged under the lip. It was still hittable but I was not sure that I would even get it out from under the lip. I pondered taking a drop but decided to hit it anyways. Well I got it out and proceeded to make double bogey. Long story short I should have taken a unplayable

I am glad that I am not the only one then. That happened to me several times this summer, we decided it was called the Bee Rule. Free drop outside of the bunker.

JayB said:

I played a round a Greystone this summer where every bunker was swarmed with yellowjackets. My partner and I agreed to give a free drop outside of any swarming bunker.... official rules be damned, I'm not getting stung nor taking strokes because the the bunkers aren't properly maintained....

Click to expand...

Fourputt said:

I would only drop if there was truly no way to play the ball from the lie - I've played out backwards or sideways before when I had no other option, but I've never had to declare the ball unplayable. If there's any way I can get out of the bunker with my shot, then I'll almost always be better off than the half plugged lie I'd have from dropping the ball in sand.

Click to expand...

yes that part can be tricky too. Its no guarantee at all that what you drop is going to be pleasant..lol
But hey, there is that occasional time where in which even going out backwards or another direction is too difficult to do also. Not too many of us are getting out a fried egg on the side wall and/or from under a lip no matter which way we want to face.

Anyone hasn't had this happen is either lucky or just not in many bunkers enough times to have had it happen enough times. One of my courses (mostly played one) has about 150 bunkers. And every green has at least two and many have four not to mention every fairway dogleg has them on the inside and outside of the turn. Any average hacker would find it rare not to be in at least a couple/few bunkers every round and then you just get those days when you live in them (13 in one round was my worst) and through time and just by sheer numbers there does pop up that terrible unplayable situation.

JayB said:

I played a round a Greystone this summer where every bunker was swarmed with yellowjackets. My partner and I agreed to give a free drop outside of any swarming bunker.... official rules be damned, I'm not getting stung nor taking strokes because the the bunkers aren't properly maintained....

Click to expand...

well. technically you would be allowed a free drop in the bunker one club length from the danger no closer to the hole. That doesn't mean one club from the nest but means one club form the spot in which there is no more danger. So if the bunker is large enough there may be a place to drop that is out of danger. However I think we can agree in general its usually the whole bunker (unless it is pretty large) that is going to pose a threat. The next option is take a free drop in another bunker no closer to the hole. I don't know if that means a bunker on the other side of the green. But in any case if there is no relief in the bunker or another near by bunker then unfortunately its a drop outside the bunker (away from nearest danger no closer to the hole) but comes with a penalty. Being in a bunker is suppose to be somewhat penal or at least prove to be more difficult and being able to drop outside the bunker without penalty is simply not fair to those who didn't go in the bunker so imo the rule is justified.

I mean do what you want, who cares, but if your looking to be honest with yourself as possible it imo is similar to when on a tree root. We are the ones who hit our ball there and so moving it due to the situation is allowable but with penalty then so be it. Right,wrong, or indifferent it is what it is. The first thing one might argue is that ...."well, they failed to maintain the bunker and it wouldn't nor shouldn't contain a wasp nest and I shouldn't be in this situation".
But things I can say to counter that is that there also shouldn't be a doughnut around the cup, or clumpy and poorly maintained areas around a green, or bare spots with hard pan and lumpy grounds, or terrible edges on bunkers, or footprints, or any number of poorly maintained things which affect our play.
What about when things help us like when they clear underbrush from under tree canopies for sake of pace and making the game easier so that we can find our balls and play them out? Or when a poor condition tee box being worked on forces them to put the tees up a set forward? Point is sometimes we get the breaks and sometimes we don't. But we only (by human nature) complain when the breaks go against us. Imo I hit the ball in the bunker and if my only relief from danger is to move it out but come at a stroke cost than so be it.

Not the players fault there are wasps in the bunker but is the players fault for hitting it into the bunker. The same situation in the fairway or the rough and you would get no penalty but since it was indeed hit in the bunker then so be it. There is a free drop option to stay in the bunker and even though not often is it really a practical option due to the danger it doesn't matter. Your in the bunker and so it suppose to be penal. Imo just deal with it. Take the penalty if you have no choice but to drop outside. You shouldn't reward yourself with a better shot scenario than you would have had in the bunker and so a penalty is the only real solution. I cant really believe I am talking like this because I think some rules are ridiculous and wrong and unfair but this one actually makes sense. Imo we are the ones who hit our ball in that bunker in the first place. If it has to come out it should imo come at a cost.

Especially if the ball in the wasp bunker was a fired egg or some other bad lie situation which this thread is about. Why should one get free relief from a ball that was basically unplayable and penal in the first place? You cant get rewarded because the wasp nest. It just doesn't fit imo.

rollin said:

well. technically you would be allowed a free drop in the bunker one club length from the danger no closer to the hole. That doesn't mean one club from the nest but means one club form the spot in which there is no more danger. So if the bunker is large enough there may be a place to drop that is out of danger. However I think we can agree in general its usually the whole bunker (unless it is pretty large) that is going to pose a threat. The next option is take a free drop in another bunker no closer to the hole. I don't know if that means a bunker on the other side of the green. But in any case if there is no relief in the bunker or another near by bunker then unfortunately its a drop outside the bunker (away from nearest danger no closer to the hole) but comes with a penalty. Being in a bunker is suppose to be somewhat penal or at least prove to be more difficult and being able to drop outside the bunker without penalty is simply not fair to those who didn't go in the bunker so imo the rule is justified.

I mean do what you want, who cares, but if your looking to be honest with yourself as possible it imo is similar to when on a tree root. We are the ones who hit our ball there and so moving it due to the situation is allowable but with penalty then so be it. Right,wrong, or indifferent it is what it is. The first thing one might argue is that ...."well, they failed to maintain the bunker and it wouldn't nor shouldn't contain a wasp nest and I shouldn't be in this situation".
But things I can say to counter that is that there also shouldn't be a doughnut around the cup, or clumpy and poorly maintained areas around a green, or bare spots with hard pan and lumpy grounds, or terrible edges on bunkers, or footprints, or any number of poorly maintained things which affect our play.
What about when things help us like when they clear underbrush from under tree canopies for sake of pace and making the game easier so that we can find our balls and play them out? Or when a poor condition tee box being worked on forces them to put the tees up a set forward? Point is sometimes we get the breaks and sometimes we don't. But we only (by human nature) complain when the breaks go against us. Imo I hit the ball in the bunker and if my only relief from danger is to move it out but come at a stroke cost than so be it.

Not the players fault there are wasps in the bunker but is the players fault for hitting it into the bunker. The same situation in the fairway or the rough and you would get no penalty but since it was indeed hit in the bunker then so be it. There is a free drop option to stay in the bunker and even though not often is it really a practical option due to the danger it doesn't matter. Your in the bunker and so it suppose to be penal. Imo just deal with it. Take the penalty if you have no choice but to drop outside. You shouldn't reward yourself with a better shot scenario than you would have had in the bunker and so a penalty is the only real solution. I cant really believe I am talking like this because I think some rules are ridiculous and wrong and unfair but this one actually makes sense. Imo we are the ones who hit our ball in that bunker in the first place. If it has to come out it should imo come at a cost.

Especially if the ball in the wasp bunker was a fired egg or some other bad lie situation which this thread is about. Why should one get free relief from a ball that was basically unplayable and penal in the first place? You cant get rewarded because the wasp nest. It just doesn't fit imo.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I didn't know we could do this? Learn something new everyday on THP. Or does the option to drop in a different bunker just apply to dangerous insects etc...?

Daddio said:

Thanks, I didn't know we could do this? Learn something new everyday on THP. Or does the option to drop in a different bunker just apply to dangerous insects etc...?

Click to expand...

I am no rules expert at all but here is what I found. I don't even know which of possibly a few ther bunkers in the area would be considered ok. And from what I gather its not insects but just anything that poses a threat. However, that said it wouldn't apply to poison ivy or tree roots which imo can be argued are also dangerous to the players well being too. Perhaps another discussion but maybe the last paragraph answers that because one doesn't have to take anything more than a small easy swing to pitch off from a tree root without any danger. Anyway here is what I found FWIW about any of it.


Q. A player's ball comes to rest in a situation dangerous to the player, e.g., near a live rattlesnake or a bees' nest. In equity (Rule 1-4 ), does the player have any options in addition to playing the ball as it lies or, if applicable, proceeding under Rule 26 or 28 ?

A. Yes. It is unreasonable to expect the player to play from such a dangerous situation and unfair to require the player to incur a penalty under Rule 26 (Water Hazards) or Rule 28 (Ball Unplayable).

If the ball lay through the green, the player may, without penalty, drop a ball within one club-length of and not nearer the hole than the nearest spot not nearer the hole that is not dangerous and is not in a hazard and not on a putting green.

If the ball lay in a hazard, the player may drop a ball, without penalty, within one club-length of and not nearer the hole than the nearest spot not nearer the hole that is not dangerous. If possible, the ball must be dropped in the same hazard and, if not possible, in a similar nearby hazard, but in either case not nearer the hole. If it is not possible for the player to drop the ball in a hazard, he may drop it, under penalty of one stroke, outside the hazard, keeping the point where the original ball lay between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped.

If the ball lay on the putting green, the player may, without penalty, place a ball at the nearest spot not nearer the hole that is not dangerous and that is not in a hazard.

If interference by anything other than the dangerous situation makes the stroke clearly impracticable or if the situation would be dangerous only through the use of a clearly unreasonable stroke or an unnecessarily abnormal stance, swing, or direction of play, the player may not take relief as prescribed above, but he is not precluded from proceeding under Rule 26 or 28 if applicable. (Revised)

If I were to be in a comp (I really don't do those), sure, I'd take an unplayable.

But if it's just a fun round, why not. Had that happen this spring when I was playing a round at Hot Springs Village. Ball buried right below the lip. Don't get those often so I figured now is as good a time as any to try. Opened face up, swung hard right below the ball and it popped out high, went right over the flag and dropped about 20' past. Two putted for bogey. Good experience.

I've been lucky, the worst lie I've had in a bunker was one where I could see just a piece of the ball. Actually took me a while to find it, I thought I lost it.

I was able to get it out of the lie, but it was probably mostly luck. Haven't had to take an unplayable from a bunker yet.

Sorry to say I did not know a drop was an option until watching Hilton Head this year and Jason Day hit one under the lip on 18 green side bunker in the first round. He took a drop due to it being plugged right under the lip and saved bogey. A couple of weeks ago I ended up with a similar lye and took a drop to save bogey on the hole that I would have made double or worst if I had not.

I am not sure I have ever taken an unplayable in a bunker. The reason being is that I consider myself to be a very poor bunker player to start with so to take a penalty stroke only to either skull the next shot or leave it in the bunker is worth the risk of trying to bet the ball out from its original lie if there is even a very slight chance.